Rotary engine.



1. BuWHlTTED.

ROTARYENGINE.

Inventor Witnesses Attorneys 1.8. WHITTED.Y

'ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION 4FILED APRI?. 19H:-

. Patented Sept. 11, 1917/.

2 SHEETS-SHEET' 2- Attorneys A prirr c eravate JOHN B. WHITTED, OFELIZABETHTOWN., NORTH CAROLINA.

ROTARY Eireann;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Slept. lll., lill it'.

Application filed April 7, 1915. SerialNo. 19,829.

To all whom t may concern: i

Be it known that I, JOHN B. `lllnirrno.

a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Elizabethtown, in the countyoft' Bladen and `State `of North Carolina, have invented a new anduseful Rotary Engine, lol. which lthe followingV is -a specification. l

The device toi-ming the subject matter .oi this application is a rotaryengine, 4and `one object of the invention is to provide novel meanswhereby a trapped quantity o'f fluid is permitted to act by expansionupon Aone of the pistons as the rotor nieves.

Another object ofi 'the invention iste ianprov-ethe construction oi therotor and its parts.

A l'f-'urther Eolejec1;-oi: the invention is; tto providenotel .meanswhereby the engine 'may be reversed; f l L It is `Within the province-of .the disclosure toirnprove generailllgv :and to .enhance ftheutility of devices of that type toavhichzthe Apresent invention-1appentains. l

NVlith the yabove and other objects in vievv Ywhich will appear @astheffdescription pro- `needs, the invention resides in :the combina*tion and arrangement `of parts and in the 4details oi constructionhereinafter described and claimed, -i-t *being understood that changesin the precise embodiment-ofthe in vention herein disclosedcan be madeIWithin the scope of what 1s claimed, Without de- 'fparting i'rorn thespirit 'of :the'invention In theaccompanyingdrawings :.-ll Figure l yisla vertical section wherein rdiivers parts vappear lin elevation;

FFig. 2 is lana elevation showing :one l of :the

end plates; .t

EFig. 3 is an end elevation; l llig. il yis a Adiagram .referred to yinexplaining the workings ot' the engine;

Fig. 5 isa crosssectiorr;

l Fig. f6 `is affperspective detaillshowingn part oi .thelrotorg l l 1Ffis a perspective Ldetail .showing ,a

`part of'one oiithe rotor pistons.

The rotary engine downing Vthe ysubject matter offthis application:comprises agstator including abase 1 supporting. airing orl :body 2coperating Withlendpla'tes eoluippedV 1n their'finner -facesivvithfannular grooves-'d :and

provided Awith ricain lribs 5. l t ,w f Therotoryincludes a sha-ft 6Journaledun vhearings 7 onLthe end :plates Spandaan gannular :membercomprising a' vhub #8 lsecured to the lshaft, rim-i9;`y the wedges" ofWhich are Vreceived in the grooves 4L, and a web l0 connecting the hub Swith the riin A9. ln the side 'faces ot the rini 9, pachings ll arelocated, the sainebeingactuated outwardly bv means of springs l2 tocooperate with the Wallsxof the grooves elin which lthe edges ofthe riin9 are received.

The rinrt) and the web l0 of the rotor are provided withfany desired.nuniber oi' radial. slots LL in which are mounted to slide radi- Zally,:pistons denoted generallyby the nuineral 154, each piston 31.5comprising a hea-:l :ALS and a reduced ste1n17 defining shoulders 18which Ycoact Awith the cam ribs 5, to advance and retract the pistons'lhe rini 9 is provided with packings 19 disposed transversely, and1adapted .to cooperate with the `pistons l5, the ipachings 19 beingadvanced Alagajnst the pistons by ineans of springs 12(7),. ,Springs l2lcooperate with the dtuby and thes'houlders 1S on the pistonsfloy andconstitl'ltc means for advancing the pistons. Pivoted to Athe outer endsot the pistons l5 are closures adapted to cooperate with `the ring orbody 2 `of the stator.

'llhe lbody or ring of 2the stator is provided with abutinents 23carrying movable pacllngsi advanced bylsprings 'lhc p'acltings Qiinay belubricated lby means oi .cups t r[he abutments -Qllie Within thelcontour ofcasings 2:7, ,the numeral 2S indi- 4leating.(nltwardly,extended partitions within the casi-nge. Assembled with or constitutingja part of thecasingsT are steam inlet chanihers 29. -Ports SOand 3l,disposed upon opposite sides .of Ythe respective partitions 28A,establish communication between `the steam inlet chambers 29 and thecasings 27, there lbeing portsrll and 33 which lead from the casings 27into the interior ofthe stator, the portsz), and 38 being located uponopposite above outlined embodies the lever 50 which may be fulcrumed asshown at 51 on one of the bearings 7. Assembled with the lever 50 is anarcuate frame 52 carrying a handle 53 adapted to coperate with a segment54 or with any other suitable form of' latch mechanism. The lever 53 isconnected with the frame 52 by means of a brace 55. Links 56 connect theends of the lever 50 with the upper and lower ends of the valves'45 andby means of links 57, the valves 45 arev coni nected with the valves 48and 43. Y

, For the purpose of introducingoil into the stator between the cam ribs5 and the grooves 4, theend plates 3`are provided with openings 58controlled by movable closures 59. The oily thus introduced into thestator serves to lubricate the Working parts and surplus or vitiated oilmay be drawn away through pet cocks 60.

Assuming that the rotor is moving in the directionof the arrow in Fig.1,the positions of the various valves are as followsz rlhe valve 43 closesthe'exhaust branch 37, the valve 45 closesthe exhaust branch 41, theopening 46 in the valve 45 coinciding with the port 30, thereby to openthe port 32, the valve 45 closing the port 31, and the opening 47 in thevalve 45 coinciding with the exhaust branch 42. The opening 49 in thevalve 48 coincides with the exhaust branch 38. The foregoing descriptionapplies to the right hand side of the engine as shown in Fig. 1, and onthe left hand side of the engine, the positions of the various valvesare reversed from that described. Referring to the right hand side ofthe engine, steam enters the pipe 34, traverses the branch 35 and entersthe casing of the stator by way of the ports 30 and 32, the steam orother fluid which traverses the top of the stator being dischargedthrough the upper left hand pipe 37 which is open. Observingrthat theport 32 vand the exhaust branch 41 at the left hand side of the engineare fopen, it will be obvious that back pressure on the pistons 15 isavoided.

The pistons 15 are advanced and retracted by the action" of theshoulders' 18 of the pis- Vtons 15, on the cam ribs'5, the springs 21serving to aid in advancing the pistons.`

Let lreference be had at this'point to the fective-surface pressure F ofthe piston B is greater than the eective workingarea D of the-piston A,and since thepistonA is actuated by live steam, the steam trapped in thecompartment E will be permitted `to expand against` the working .area Fof the i piston B, thereby aidingin propelling the rotor.. ,i

It is to .be understood'that the A.partsl'are i so proportioned inpractice that thecompartment E is` of constantly increasing size as therotor turns on its axis.

When -it is .desired to reverse .the engine, Y

such an operation is brought about by shift' ing the lever 53, thesaine'actuating the lever 50, motion being transmitted bythe links 56 tothe valves 45 and fromV thevalves 45 by way ofthe links 57 to the valves43 and 48 respectively. Owingto the fact thatthis specification isaddressed to persons skilled in the art, 'it is not necessary totraceout the steam and exhaust conduits after the engine has been reversed,since the Vrelative positionsV of the` valves with respect to each otherand to the openings o r ports which -they control. will be obviousto-.one skilled in the `art -having before him the disclosure of Fig. 1.Y

Having `thus described invention, what l .i

is claimed.is Y Y,

1. In a device of the class described, a stator comprislng end plates;cam ribs on -the end plates; a: rotor -journaled inthe stator; pistonsslidable in the rotoreach piston comprising a headanda reduced stemdefining shoulders in the piston; and springs disposed uponoppositelsides of Vthe stem,

vthe springs engaging at theiry outer ends with the shoulders :andengaging Vat their inner ends with the stator, theinner edges ofthe-shoulders coacting` with the-cam ribs.

2. A rotary engine4 comprising a stator having oppositely disposedabutments and:`

provided at: each side with a pair ofrst exhaust ports, the exhaustports of the pairs being located upon opposite1 sides of the respeotiveabutments, the stator being supplied at each side with a pair of secondexhaust -V `and between the seconduexhaust .ports'ofrgg .y

veach pair ,'man valves. mounted l.on-the stator for right line slidingmovement, each main valve controlling one pair of inlet ports and acorresponding pair of second exhaust ports; an auxiliary valvecontrolling each irst exhaust port and mounted on the stator for rightline sliding movement; links pivotally connected to the outer ends ofthe main valves and with the inner ends of the corresponding auxiliaryvalves; a single lever :Eulorumed intermediate its ends on the stator;means for holding the lever in adjusted positions; a link connectingeach end of the lever With one of the main valves; and a rotor journaledin the stator and oooperating with the abutments.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my oWn, I have hereto ai'ixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN B. WHITTED.

Witnesses:

JN0. D. BIZZELL, IVY E. SIMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Eatente, Washington, D. C.

